tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68881502000002842422018-02-21T02:51:56.799+08:00John's Hong Kong BirdingMainly birding in Hong Kong with a few pictures thrown in.John Holmesnoreply@blogger.comBlogger460125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-14702134905847015392018-02-17T22:10:00.000+08:002018-02-18T22:27:48.687+08:00Tangjiahe NNR in Sichuan - a February flying visit
Takin - Budorcas taxicolor
Just before Lunar New Year, (10th - 14th February 2018) we had five-day break to visit Tangjiahe, a Chinese National Nature Reserve on Sichuan’s border with Gansu.
The American Zoologist Dr. George Schaller spent a year at Tangjiahe in 1984/5, and wrote about it in his book “The Last Panda”.
Brief summer visits were made by Jemi and I in 2005 and 2009, and IJohn Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-35861575885658737472018-02-03T19:00:00.000+08:002018-02-20T20:16:19.577+08:00A Cruise around some of the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)
Galapagos Sea Lion, Floreana
We had a few days to bird around Puerto Ayora and Santa Cruz Island itself, while we looked for a suitable cruise to do some of the outlying islands.
Magnificent Frigatebird and Brown Pelican at the fish market, Puerto Ayora
Lava Gull, fishmarket, Puerto Ayora
Galapagos Lava Lizard by the roadside, Puerto Ayora
Cactus Finch, Puerto Ayora town
John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-10682371048024372952018-01-09T22:45:00.002+08:002018-01-14T08:44:05.939+08:00Doing our homework
After a ten-week trip there is always a lot of material to post, but also a risk that this blog could be re-named “John’s What I did on my Trip Blog”.
So, some Hong Kong birds this time. We have tried to catch up with some of the rarities reported during our absence.
Fortunately, three of these have hung around long enough for us to find them…
Rook - Corvus frugilegus
The rainy John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-48511171486636506202018-01-08T10:09:00.004+08:002018-01-08T11:35:22.624+08:00Seabirding in the Humboldt Current - Part 2
Galapagos Petrel - Pterodroma phaeopygia
Waved Albatrosses were an almost constant presence as we approached the Galapagos Island group on the last few days of the voyage.
Waved Albatross - Phoebastria irrorata
Waved Albatross - Phoebastria irrorata
They would fly up from the wake and land, expectantly, beside the boat. If they thought Sauvage was a trawler, they John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-78634215337740793442018-01-02T17:16:00.000+08:002018-01-12T17:40:08.172+08:00Seabirding in the Humboldt Current - Part 1
Elliot's (White-vented) Storm-Petrel - Oceanites gracilis
The main reason for our trip to South America was a voyage scheduled from 23rd October to 16th November 2017 on Yacht Sauvage.
Kirk Zufelt initiated and organised the trip. The attraction of eastern pacific seabirds framed between two exotic locations was irresistible to us.
Start: Port of Arica, north Chile
End: John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-26450111056198315062017-12-29T21:07:00.001+08:002018-01-05T13:47:08.001+08:00North Chile, 6th to 22nd October 2017
Northern Vizcacha - Lagidium peruanum
The thirteen-hour flight from Sydney to Santiago crosses so many time zones that it arrives (local time) before it took off.
This meant that our first three nights in Santiago were in “recovery mode” and on Oct 9th we flew to La Serena, a 500km first step on a journey of 2,400km to Arica, in the far north of the country.
We had “Birds of Chile” John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-89435894788087856502017-09-20T09:24:00.001+08:002017-09-23T21:33:02.224+08:00In praise of - Pied Kingfishers
Pied Kingfisher - Ceryl rudis
Exuberant, noisy, full of life - Pied Kingfishers brighten a great swathe of the "Old World" from East Africa to South China...
Pied Kingfisher - Ceryl rudis
Pied Kingfisher - Ceryl rudis
Pied Kingfisher - Ceryl rudis
Pied Kingfisher - Ceryl rudis
Pied Kingfisher - Ceryl rudis
Pied Kingfisher - Ceryl rudis
Pied Kingfisher - Ceryl John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-34346124775407447512017-09-05T18:31:00.000+08:002017-09-09T08:43:13.948+08:00Qinghai Province - a Snow Leopard Quest, 25th to 30th August 2017
Early morning, south Qinghai Province
We had first heard about the possibility of seeing Snow Leopards in China when we read Terry Townsend’s “Birding Beijing” blogposts earlier this year.
https://birdingbeijing.com/2017/04/22/snow-leopards-in-qinghai/
https://birdingbeijing.com/2017/07/01/snow-leopard-watching-in-qinghai/
And Tormod Amundsen's blog -
http://www.biotope.no/John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-91429093733326916422017-09-03T15:55:00.004+08:002017-09-05T16:10:39.310+08:00Qinghai - Birding around Yushu, 22nd to 24th August 2017
Tibetan Ground Tit - Pseudopodoces humilis
We arrived in Yushu, se Qinghai on 22nd August. We were due to join some friends for a fairly intensive high-elevation tour on the 25th, so arrived early to acclimatise.
Yushu (“Jyekyundo” in Tibetan) lies at 3,900 m. We had last been there in 2007.
It was badly damaged by an earthquake in 2010.
So with a couple of spare days to fill, John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-64762713650508710862017-08-17T15:21:00.002+08:002017-09-02T10:13:09.536+08:00Inner Mongolia, March 2017
Shore (formerly "Horned") Lark - Eremophila alpestris
There’s nothing like the swelter of August in HK to cause me to hark back to the cool few days in March we spent in Inner Mongolia, near the Chinese border with Russia.
We travelled with Mengxiu TONG of China Wild Tour in a small group.
It was well below freezing on most days near Hulun Lake, where Snowy Owls are usually John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-71852100869991750562017-07-03T22:06:00.000+08:002018-01-05T13:40:45.660+08:00Fiji - Part II - Seabirding east of Viti Levu
Viti Levu, Fiji
Tropical Cyclone “Ella” had stirred up Fiji’s weather, and we started out towards Gau from Port Denerau near Nadi, not Suva as originally planned.
The main reason for going to Fiji had been to look for Fiji Petrel.
Fiji Petrel is about as enigmatic as seabirds can get. The original specimen was secured by the crew of HMS Herald in 1855 on Gau Island, to the eastJohn Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-46983740481713678442017-06-19T21:15:00.002+08:002017-07-05T09:15:36.604+08:00A welcome stranger - HK’s First Black Noddy
Black Noddy - Anous minutus
Three species of tern breed on the rocky islets off the northeast coast of Hong Kong’s New Territories. Bridled, Black-naped and Roseate Terns brave man-made hazards such as anglers who land on the islands and disturb their nesting areas, and the storms of summertime. Typhoon “Merbok” - first of the season -swept up from Luzon a few days ago, and a lot of rain John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-31204537279373873712017-06-15T14:12:00.000+08:002017-07-03T22:07:20.466+08:00Fiji - Part 1 - Land birding near Suva
Golden Fruit Dove - Ptilinopus luteovirens
This trip was centred on a ten-day boat trip to look for the Critically Endangered Fiji Petrel, of which, more later.
Fiji is a direct ten-hour flight from Hong Kong, but despite the Fiji national team's success in the Hong Kong Sevens Rugby Tournament (and the Rio Olympics) I confess I had never been inspired to go there before.
The John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-76056894553318354902017-05-08T15:42:00.003+08:002017-05-09T13:07:54.694+08:00Starting to feel like Summer
Short-tailed Shearwater - Puffinus tenuirostris
After the excitement of the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, it might seem strange that we returned to Po Toi Island the following day.
However, a week earlier, a friend had offered to take us to Po Toi on May 3rd in a fishing sampan, owned and skippered by his father. Naturally we agreed. I haven’t given his name here to spare him lots of John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-78611949685575185562017-05-04T07:15:00.000+08:002017-05-04T21:01:11.294+08:00Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher - and supporting cast.
Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher
May.
Another month has arrived and it feels like “Phase II” of spring migration. The waders and flycatchers have mostly passed in peak numbers but the birds that breed closer to, or actually in Hong Kong, have started to show up.
Commercial fishponds are a good wildlife habitat and the new month greeted me with Whiskered Terns over the fishponds at San John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-37829450439389595102017-04-28T07:47:00.003+08:002017-05-04T06:53:35.626+08:00"A week is a long time..."
"...in politics..." (Harold Wilson)
"... in April bird migration...." (me)
I had a couple of mornings (24th and 25th April) at the Mai Po boardwalk hides, and here's a selection of what I saw.
At the peak of the tide
The Black-tailed Godwit got away..
Curlew Sandpipers - Calidris ferruginea
Pied Kingfisher - Ceryle rudis
Grey-tailed Tattler - Tringa brevipes
John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-22811355300290962752017-04-24T20:12:00.001+08:002017-04-24T20:12:57.302+08:00Late April - grey days mean good birding
Friday, 21st April 2017
I cycled out for a couple of hours in the boardwalk hides at Mai Po. The tides were pretty low, but I wanted to see whether there were many birds on the moss in front of the outermost hides.
The answer, obviously, is "Yes" - but the birds were distant. The first three comprise the pick of the bunch...
Citrine Wagtail - Motacilla citreola
Little Stint - John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-14254142158004952952017-04-17T14:53:00.000+08:002017-04-17T14:53:25.756+08:00Gull-billed Terns
The Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica) is a spring passage migrant, with sometimes flocks of several hundred in Hong Kong in spring.
When viewing noisy and quarrelsome flocks like this, it's easy to forget what a bold and elegant hunter of mudflat crabs it can be....
All these photos were taken in April 2017 at Mai Po Nature Reserve, Hong Kong.
John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-47217701836692384212017-04-11T07:55:00.001+08:002018-01-05T13:41:56.287+08:00“Po Toi and HK Southern Waters”
Long-tailed Skua - Stercorarius longicaudus
“Po Toi and HK Southern Waters” is the usual billing for Hong Kong Bird Watching Society boat outings that aim to find seabirds.
These spring boat trips usually stop over for a hour or two on Po Toi Island itself, where there can be some migrant landbirds.
Two examples here: the Ashy Minvet is a regular bird of passage on Po Toi,
John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-20928690388260462982017-03-16T11:08:00.001+08:002018-01-05T13:41:05.151+08:00Southwest Pacific Seabirding - Part II New Ireland to Kolombangara
Beck's Petrel - Pseudobulweria becki
On 20th January 2017 we arrived off Silur Bay, New Ireland. We were there because we knew that Birdlife International had identified the area in 2012 as a good site to encounter Beck’s Petrel and a Team from Birdlife had been trying to trap and attach a radio tag to a Beck’s Petrel ten months earlier.
New Ireland (Island Province of John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-66810696575642965272017-03-01T09:10:00.001+08:002018-01-05T13:41:34.516+08:00Southwest Pacific Seabirding - Part I Vanuatu to New Georgia
Vanuatu Petrel - Pterodroma occulta
Having boarded the previous night, we set sail from Port Vila, Vanuatu on Jan 6th, 2017.
Port Vila, Vanuatu
On board Expedition Yacht Sauvage, we were hosted by Didier, Sophie and Chloe Wattrelot.
Our birding co-expeditioners were -
Mike Danzenbaker
Bob Flood
Angus Wilson
and Kirk Zufelt.
A glance at the websites of John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-45063466197758046512017-02-25T14:24:00.000+08:002017-02-25T14:24:54.995+08:00Braving the Concrete Jungle
Chinese/Yellow-billed Grosbeak - Eophona migratoria
That's the birds braving the concrete jungle of course, - I'm just an urban (urbane?) softy.
We returned from Brisbane to the news that a Baikal Bush Warbler was to be found in the carefully manicured planters in a private estate in east Kowloon - Telford Gardens.
"BBW" usually gives itself up to the ringers in Mai Po's John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-32879385554671423952017-01-05T07:33:00.000+08:002017-01-05T07:33:05.791+08:00Shake your Booty .....
Booted Warbler - Iduna caligata
Thanks to Mike Kilburn for finding this in the scrubby margins beside some San Tin fishponds. Hong Kong's fifth or sixth Booted Warbler - and the first for me in HK !
Booted Warbler - Iduna caligata
Booted Warbler - Iduna caligata
A reprise here of some of the birds wintering around Deep Bay in midwinter -
Eastern Marsh Harrier - Circus spilonotusJohn Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-81818537891637009692016-12-26T15:44:00.000+08:002016-12-26T17:28:42.820+08:00Mind your step - and some mid-winter birding, Deep Bay, Hong Kong
I'm grateful to Thomas Chan for spotting this Burmese Python on the southern boundary of Mai Po Nature Reserve. Snakes are usually more frightened of people than we are of them, but still....that's a lot of fear to go round !
This shot of the head is a big crop with the 500mm lens - I wasn't getting close to it ...
Burmese Python (Python bivittatus)
Burmese Python (Python bivittatusJohn Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888150200000284242.post-9026337186340493272016-12-20T20:19:00.000+08:002016-12-20T20:19:42.932+08:00Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Hong Kong's 2nd record)
HK’s second Buff-breasted Sandpiper was found this morning by a Birdwatching Society surveyor (whose name I don’t yet know), while monitoring a drained pond in San Tin.
Buff-breasted Sandpiper - Tryngites subruficollis
HK’s first-ever B-BS was sighted briefly on Ponds 16/17 at Mai Po Nature Reserve last spring (2015).
The 2015 bird was in view for less than an hour, and many people,John Holmeshttps://plus.google.com/111879949596206893086noreply@blogger.com4